- LeBron leaving Miami
Already covered it but if both Wade and Bosh opt-in for next season ($20.1 for Wade, $20.6 mil for Bosh), L-E-A-V-E. Neither player is worth that kind of money anymore, especially Wade, who looked W-A-S-H-E-D against the Spurs. Bosh and Wade both opting-in leaves no room to sign other significant talent. Should LeBron decide to leave, Houston is his next best choice. Forget the media backlash, Harden and Howard are younger/massive upgrades from Wade and Bosh. Houston can easily clear cap space by getting rid of Asik and Lin (both will each make $15 mil next season) and they will do it in a heartbeat if LeBron shows interest. The Clippers are an option too but I don’t like the idea of trading Blake Griffin to clear room. Miami is still his best choice but it’ll depend on what Wade and Bosh will do with their contracts.
- Sixers trading Michael Carter-Williams to the Lakers
Last night there were rumors of this trade between the Philadelphia 76ers & Los Angeles Lakers:
– Lakers receive: Michael Carter-Williams & Thaddeus Young
– Sixers receive: 7th overall pick
Lets pretend the rumor is legit…
From the Lakers perspective, it’s an okay move (GREAT MOVE if Nash was included). It’ll give us one building block for the future (MCW) and an underrated player at SF (Young). We’d still need that franchise player to build around for the A.K. (After Kobe) period but we can find that later.
From the Sixers perspective, it’s downright stupidity. MCW may not be that #1 franchise player to build around (like their last true franchise player: Allen Iverson) but he could be a solid #2 or #3 option down the road. They also have Nerlens Noel who missed all of last season. If they make the right selection at #3 overall, they could have their own homegrown “Big 3” like a certain team down in the Great Plains, 205 miles directly north of Dallas.
- Warriors willingness to trade Klay Thompson for Kevin Love
Kevin Love is arguably the best PF in the game, and would be an upgrade over David Lee, but this makes no sense (at least to me). The proposed trade:
– Warriors receive: Kevin Love, Kevin Martin
– Timberwolves receive: Klay Thompson, David Lee, Harrison Barnes
Klay Thompson was Top 5 at his position last season (not overall, just LAST SEASON…) and is improving every year. Adding Love doesn’t fix the main issue the Warriors had last season: defense. The Warriors were fine last year. They just ran into the wrong team (Clippers) and had a key injury (Bogut) at the worst possible time. The Warriors have enough offense and shooting, need to focus on how to get better defensively. Even though Love is an upgrade over Lee, the ball stops when its in his hands (normally catch-and-shoot… Lee’s a great passer) and does nothing defensively. And how do they know that Love wont leave the first chance he gets? He’s said all along that he wants to be a Laker. Martin is the same exact way (catch-and-shoot, horrible on defense) but somehow even worse. Plus he’s 7 years older than Klay. This just seems like a knee-jerk move from Golden State’s side but a win-win for Minnesota. It’ll give them a piece to build around (Klay) and assets to trade away (Lee & Barnes).
- Carmelo signing anywhere other than Chicago
Chicago would be a PERFECT fit for Carmelo Anthony. They desperately need scoring (especially if Derrick Rose gets hurt for a THIRD time) and he wants to go to a big market that doesn’t require him to completely change his game. Miami is unrealistic. He’s done all he could in New York. There’s not enough help in Los Angeles (Lakers – Kobe & who else?) or Dallas (an old Dirk & a bunch of role players). Houston’s a bad fit (he, Harden & Howard all need the ball to be effective… and there’s only one ball). The Clippers don’t want him. The Bulls have the star player (Rose & yes, Im considering Noah a “star” too), the depth, and can easily create enough cap space (can amnesty or trade Boozer) to sign Carmelo. All they would ask from Carmelo is to give an effort on defense (too easy) and it’ll FINALLY give Rose a dependable scoring option to pass the ball to.
- Cavaliers hiring David Blatt
Not saying Blatt won’t be a great NBA coach but I don’t understand this move. They interviewed proven NBA coaches and they passed on all of them for a 55 year old coach that has spent his entire coaching career overseas. The NBA is a much different league than any other league overseas and you got to factor the number of egos (money, playing time, false sense of entitlement, star players getting their HC’s fired, etc.) in it as well. If this is a move to try to lure LeBron back, it won’t work. There’s too much mystery surrounding Blatt. If he turns out to be really good, that’s great. If not, just add his name to the list of Cavs failures within the past 4 years (11 years if you want to include the LeBron era as well).
- Five days before the NBA Draft & the Los Angeles Lakers are the ONLY team w/o a head coach
The Lakers interviewed several candidates, some twice, and have yet to hire one as our next head coach. Wouldn’t common sense tell you to hire a coach BEFORE the Draft so he could pick out what type of player he wants? It seems to me like we’re fumbling around with the coaching search like Jerome Bettis did with the ball vs. the Colts in 2006.
WHAT IS THE PLAN JIM BUSS & MITCH KUPCHAK??? Let us know SOMETHING. If we don’t have a head coach in place by July 1st (when Free Agency starts) I might just lose it…
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